Warning-strip for wire fences



.(No Model.)

W. J. CLOUD.

WARNING STRIP FOR WIRE FENCES.

No. 367,893. Patented Aug. 9, 1887.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM JOHNSTON CLOUD, OF JUNCTION CITY, TEXAS.

WARNING-STRIP FOR WIRE FENCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,893, dated August 9, 1887.

Application filed April 23,1887. Serial No. 135,895. (No model.)

To couple two plates together they are held To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1,7WILLIAM JoHNsToN CLOUD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Junction City, in the county of Kimble and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in VVarning-Strips for Wire Fences, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to warningstrips for wire fences designed as avisible signal to indicatethe presence of the fence, and thus pre vent cattle from running against the same and tearing themselves on the barbs.

The wires of afence of that character are very difficult to see, even at a short distance, and cattle, and even men, are very liable to strike against the same before seeing it. To obviate this danger it is customary to construet a warning-strip of boards or rails, extending the entire length of the fence; but this, as will bcseen, is objectionable, for the reason that rails may be scarce in the locality in which the fence is needed, and also the said rails are very apt to decay in a short time or become displaced, and others must therefore be substituted, thus rendering constant care necessary to keep the fence in repair. I obviate this inconvenience in the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of a fence provided with my improved warning-strip. Fig. 2 is a detail view of one of the sections or plates of which the warning-strip is constructed. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the manner of coupling two plates together.

lteferring to the drawings by letter, A designates one of the sections or plates of my improved warning-strip having the points B on the upper and lower edges set at angles or straight, or alternately bent and straight, as preferred, and O O are perforations in the said plate, two'lines of the same being shown in the drawings, one near the upper and the other near the lower edge, and extending the entire length of the plate. Near one end of the plate is a vertical slit, D, and on the other end are formed the upwardly and downwardly extending tongues GH,respectively, thelowerto'ngue 0 being longer than the upper tongue.

at right angles to each other, with the end having the slit therein of one adjacent to the end having the tongues thereon of the other, and the lower tongue, H, of one plate is passed through the said slit in the other plate. Then the upper tongue, G, is also passed through the said slit, and the plate having the tongue is raised until the lower end of the slit between the tongue G and the body of the plate, strikes against the upper end of the slit D,when the upper edges of the plates will be on the same horizontal line. The plates are now swung aroundinto the position shown in Fig. 1, and it will be seen thatby that action they are firmly clamped together by the spring of the metal composing the plates.

Small wires I I may be used to bind the joints of the plates by passing the same through. the perforations O, as shown at one place in Fig. 1; but this is not necessary and need only be resorted to as an additional security. The said perforations may also be used as a means of securing the lower endsof sustaining-wires K K to the plates, the upper ends of the said wires being attached to the wire above on the fence, to suspend the warning strip in preference to nailing the same to the posts. (Both of the said modes of securement are shown in Fig. 1.) The said warning-strips arepreferably secured to the uprights or posts of the fence,where they come in contact with the sa n1e,by nails driven there into through the perforations O. A still further object of the said perforations is to make the plates lighter, while having considerable width to enable them to be'rcadily seen at a distance; and, also, by perforating the plates less resistance is offered to the wind.

My improved warning-strip is preferably made of sheet-iron either galvanized or otherwise, and by the construction thereof it may be very readily put in place, and it will form as strong and effective a protection as rails or other means heretofore used. Further, it is neat and indestructible, and in consequence of its simplicity will be very inexpensive to manufacture.

Having described my invention, I claim- The herein-described warning-strip for wire fences, comprising the perforated plates A, In testimony that I claim the foregoing as having barbs or points on the upper and lower my own I have hereto affixed my signature in edges, transverse slots 01' slits D in one end presence of two witnesses.

of the said plates, and upwardly and down- XVILLIAM JOHNSTON CLOUD. 5 wardlyprqjecting tongues G H 011 the other Vitnesses:

end thereof, substantially as and for the pur- YOUNG PINKNEY OLIVER,

pose set forth. I Jmrns MADISON PURDE. 

